A Look Back at Year One of The Commerce Marketer Podcast

Greg Zakowicz, Senior Commerce Marketing Analyst

Author Bio

Greg Zakowicz is a senior commerce marketing analyst at Oracle + Bronto. With more than 10 years of experience in email, mobile and social media marketing, Zakowicz knows the retail industry and its challenges, staying on top of the latest trends by leveraging deep insight into the marketing spectrum. His subject matter expertise stems from his experience in providing commerce marketers — including numerous Internet Retailer Top 1000 clients — with in-depth analysis of their marketing programs, recommendations for improvement, best practice support and implementation guidance and execution.

Zakowicz is a frequent webinar speaker and presenter at ecommerce events, such as Fashion Digital New York, SIA Snow Show and ROI Revolution Summit. He has been published by top retail and marketing publications, including Power Retail and Inside Retail, and is a regular contributor to Bronto’s Commerce Marketing blog. You can follow him on Twitter at @WhatsGregDoing.

Can you believe it’s been a year already? The Commerce Marketer Podcast – the podcast covering all things ecommerce, retail and email marketing – recently celebrated its first birthday. Man, has the time flown by!

Podcasts are meant to be fun, entertaining and informative, and I hope I’ve delivered the trifecta to this point. Join me as I reflect on a few of my favorite moments from this first year.

The Company We Keep

Without guests, the podcast wouldn’t exist. I’ve really enjoyed each and every guest from the show. They were all so gracious with their time and such a pleasure to work with. And what a lineup! I’ve hosted CMOs, founders, lawyers, consultants, email marketers, social media marketers and analysts. We’ve covered topics ranging from email marketing and the consumer experience to SEO strategies and browserless commerce.

Here are a few of my most notable guests from year one:

Brian Beck of episode 001 achieved international acclaim as my inaugural guest, and during the interview, he stated that I was good-looking. He was both first and correct!

Episode 005’s Phillip Jackson (of Future Commerce and MageTalk podcast lore) laid it down in a two-part episode covering all things ecommerce. Phillip was not only a great guest but also helped me behind the scenes on multiple occasions as I initially tried to figure out how the heck to do this whole podcasting thing.

Matthew from episode 007 is my son, which of course, made him my favorite. As a five-year-old, I found his insights on shopping and voice assistants truly fascinating.

John Andrews and Ted Rubin, from episodes 013 and 018 respectively, are not only business partners and friends, but they sometimes seem like one person. Seriously though, both conversations were amazing, and these two were so generous with their time, even post-show. Thanks, gentlemen!

As a sports fan, I loved having Matt Sutor from the Durham Bulls on the podcast for episode 020. Matt threw some real strikes! (See what I did there?) He was engaging and energetic, and I thought the conversation was great. More on this below. He still owes me a first pitch though!

They Said What?

All of my guests have provided great insights, and every episode has quotable pieces of advice. But one of the best things about keeping things loose and letting people just talk is that they’re bound to say something funny now and then – especially when you take it out of context. Here are some of my favorites:

“Is tilapia a fish or just something you cook?” (episode 001)

“Do hipsters love the Durham Bulls? Sure, but maybe it’s because we have 70 types of beer at the stadium.” (episode 020)

“Fake smiles. I see them everywhere, and it drives me mental.” (episode 025)

“People want to buy $%#& when they want it.” (episode 018)

A favorite discussion: Is a hot dog a sandwich? To this day, this is continuously debated, even among celebrities. In episode 020, Matt Sutor of the Durham Bulls (the guy who owes me a first pitch) said, “In my mind, yes. It is something that is between two pieces of bread. Yes, a hotdog is a sandwich.”

Which side of the bun do you sit on?

Something Fishy

If you’ve listened to the podcast, you know I like to have fun with my guests. I often ask a variety of game show questions, such as “How many fish can you name in 15 seconds?” After one year, who was able to name the most fish? Well, three guests were able to name nine fish in only 15 seconds. Your fish-loving winners: Brian Beck (episode 001), Brett Robbins (episode 009) and Randy Kohl (episode 011).

Something Special

The first year wouldn’t have been complete without a little something to keep the momentum going. I was so pleased when The Commerce Marketer Podcast was recognized with a 2017 MarCom Gold Award. Thanks for everyone who helped get us to where we are today!

Here’s to another successful year, covering some fun and interesting topics with fun and interesting guests. If you’d like to join us as to tell your ecommerce story, kindly let me know.

If I haven’t asked enough of you already, I’ll make a few more requests. Kindly rate us, review us, and if you know someone who might be interested in the podcast, please share us. And finally, keep listening. You can find all the latest episodes via Apple Podcasts or Google Play. I hope you’ve enjoyed our series as much as I have.